The members of the Cambridge Women’s University Boat club might justly get the title of the invisible athletes of Cambridge. Unlike their male counterparts they are not easily spotted by virtue of the fact that they are about two feet taller than anyone else. They vanish from college at the almost non-existent hour of five in the morning to go and train at Ely, where they are out of sight and, to many, out of mind. They turn up at lectures at 9.00am leaving a slight trail of damp kit but otherwise looking unexceptional. They then vanish in the evenings to do ergs or circuit training. But this façade of quietly getting on with it masks a steely determination, an absolute desire to push to the limit, and one of the most gruelling and demanding training schedules of any university sport.

Now, after five months of twelve training sessions a week, freezing winter mornings in Ely, gale force winds, countless ergs, and a greater overall pasta consumption than the entire Italian nation, the crews for the 2007 boat race crews have been selected.

Trialling is over, now the real work begins

The Blue Boat features three returning Blues in Elselijn Kingma, Jen Reid and president, Lucy Wordley. The line up also includes two returning Blondie rowers, as well as GB squad member Rachel Jefferies, who has just dashed back from the Youth Olympics in Sydney where she won two gold medals. They are coxed by last year’s Blondie Cox, Jimmy Appleton. The lightweight crew also has as strong contingent of returning rowers, three having rowed with the squad last year. The Blue boat is being backed up by a strong Blondie crew, who will be stroked by Kat Lange, who stroked the Cambridge crew to victory in the first ever sprint race against Harvard at the Head of the Charles last autumn. With the crews selected, the stage of trialing is over, but now the real work begins. Each crew must work to become a single unit that will push for each other, as much as for themselves, come race day. Every outing counts in the final run-up to the boat race, and hopefully victory.

All three crews were out in action in Nottingham at the weekend where they raced over the 6km course of the Head of the Trent. The Blue Boat finished head of the women’s eights division, bringing home the Robin Haslam trophy for the fastest women’s crew in the event. Everyone is now building towards the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race which takes place on the Tideway in London on March 17. This event will be attended by all of the top national and European crews and is a chance to pace the crews against Olympians and Internationals, as well as the girls in dark blue. Whatever the outcome in London, there are then only two weeks left to put the final preparations in place for the one that really counts, at Henley on Sunday April 1.

Anita Davies and Lucy Wordley

Women's Blue Boat

Cox: Jimmy Appleton (Girton)
Stroke: Guen Bradbury (Jesus)
Anna Simpson (Corpus)
Lucy Wordley (Caius)
Jen Reid (Newnham)
Rachael Jefferies (Newnham)
Elselijn Kingma (Trinity Hall)
Sonia Bracegirdle (Caius)
Bow: Hannah Stratford (St John’s)

Women's Lightweight Blue Boat

Cox: Eleanor Goodfield (Fitzwilliam)
Stroke: Fran Rawlins (Trinity)
Claire Hansell (Fitzwilliam)
Lilie Weaver (Trinity)
Lucy Rackley (Pembroke)
Tosin Farinre (Newhnam)
Helen Ralston (Trinity)
Jen Gulliver (Girton)
Bow: Sarah Rose (Lucy Cavendish)